Traffic chaos as approach roads to port inadequate to handle high volume of containers

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Chennai’s traffic is affected due to inadequate infrastructure for freight movement and the approach roads to the port are inadequate to handle high volume of containers, according to a top traffic police official.

Deputy commissioner of traffic (north) Nirmal Kumar Joshi said that approach roads to Chennai Port Trust are 8km in the Ennore Expressway, 5.5 km in the Manali Express Road, 7km in the Ponneri High Road and 6.5 km in the four-lane 200 feet road which caters to public movement.

Interestingly, only 4km of Ponneri High Road has been laid out of 7km in the city limits making it difficult to transit during monsoon. Similarly, the four lane 200 feet road and the Manali Express is inadequate to handle the volume of containers.

Joshi said the condition of Ponneri high Road, Manali Expressway and Inner ring Road maintained by Tamil Nadu Road Development company and National Highway Authority of India is bad at certain stretches. “The situation is aggravated by absence of storm water drains at Manali Expressway. Even the roads laid are damaged early because of heavy cargo by containers,” he said.

“These zones have high incidents of road accidents thus making public movement to surrounding residential areas highly unsafe,” he said, adding that non-availability of lighting facilities along Ennore Express Road, Manali Express Road and Ponneri High Road makes them dangerous to negotiate.

The police officer also said that Chennai Port has not completed the work of creating more checking bays on the vacant land near O gate after entry which could facilitate checking of multiple vehicles at a given time, facilitating rapid movement beyond the 1 Gate, thereby reducing the checking by customs and security officials considerably.